YuGiOh!: Pharaoh Reborn
by Magmashift
Summary: A Yu-Gi-Oh fanfic. I'll try to improve the title, so far this is the best I've got. Any name suggestions would be nice. If you notice something that is an error in this like someone being alive that shouldn't be, tell me. Thanks. Shonen belongs to me, Akage belongs to my friend Becky. For those who've already read this before today, re-read chapter one, I've made a few changes.
1. Prologue

**The moon was high above the desert of Egypt. A young boy walked through the pyramids, reading the symbols that were carved into the walls with the torch he had in his hand. Anything he could think that would make a good story to tell his friends when he got back home, he copied down into his journal, for he felt that taking anything from the walls there would disturb the peace of the sleeping spirits that had been resting there for the past thousands of years. He finished reading and walked to a large jeep that was filled with excavating tools, feeling too tired to even check the time on his watch, though he guessed it was about 1 AM. **

**Tired, he got into the jeep, watching the sleeping old man in the front seat who was already snoring away. The boy smiled as his grandfather's nose twitched under his grey beard. His grandpa was short and fat, though he seemed a little too energetic for his own good. It had been _his _idea, matter of fact, to go to Egypt. As he lay there in the back of the jeep, his eyes fell heavy and soon he was fast asleep.**

**Horrible visions filled his head. Téa, Joey, Tristan, Kaiba, all his friends were either getting hurt or on the ground unconscious. A voice that he had never heard cried out in what he couldn't decide whether it was pain or fear. "No!" The voice's echo faded as a tall silhouette seemed to hover above him. He shook his head, fearing that he recognized the tall silhouette with a familiar head of hair. It couldn't be. To his right, Téa had a sort of aura being sucked from her. Her cries of pain filled his head, though he felt like he couldn't move. His arms were pinned to his side and he felt like his energy was being sucked out of him. It was then that he noticed six other silhouettes. Their figures looked all too familiar. What was going on? A cold hand gripped him and sent chills throughout his body. Suddenly, his body started shaking. A shout made him wake up. This shout didn't come from his dream, it came from his grandfather, who had shaken him awake.**

**"We're here." Sleepily, he looked out the window of the jeep; they had arrived at the airpport. With a loud and audible sigh, he wiped sweat from his forehead and got out. It was bright outside and Yugi Moto had returned to Battle City.**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: I made some changes to the middle of the chapter. Start reading it from where Pegasus and Yugi first leave in the helicopter if you've already read the first chapter. Changes to the second chapter have been made, too. If you haven't read the story yet, then ignore this message.**

**It had been approximately three years since Pharaoh Atem had left Yugi and his friends. They had taken a while to get used to him not being around. Little did they know that his absence would soon end. Tomorrow was the first day of college for Yugi. He looked at the Millennium Puzzle, half-hoping that his departure was just a dream. On the plus side, he could finally be a normal boy. Boy, would the group be surprised to see him. He had moved away the previous year, but his grandfather surprised him by saying that they were moving back. Even though he still looked the same, he had hit a growth spurt. It wasn't a large one, but at least he wasn't still five feet tall.**

**As Yugi lay in his bed, he kept his eyes on the Mellinnium Puzzle. It seemed like only yesterday that he had solved it and awakened the Pharaoh. It was he who defeated Marik, he who was named the king of games, and he who was the decendant of an ancient pharaoh. Well, he wasn't normal, but he could at least pretend that he was. The boy turned over and fell asleep, not noticing the glow of the Mellinnium Puzzle filling his room. A figure stood above him, watching him. _Yugi, you and your friends are in grave danger…_The figure seemed to say without opening his mouth. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared into the shadows, back into the Mellinnium Puzzle. **

**Yugi woke up and scratched his head. What was different? He felt something weird, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Instead, he just shrugged it off as nervousness from being back to Battle City and being a college freshman. Maybe his friends would see him first, saving him the trouble of searching the entire school for them. On his way to the college, luck has it, he ran into Joey. "Hey, Yug! What's up? I thought you moved." He said, giving his friend a hard noogie. "You ain't tryin' to avoid old Joey, are ya?" Yugi laughed and shook his head. It was good to have someone to talk to on the way to the college. **

**"I was actually hoping to run into one of you guys." He admitted. Even though Yugi was a good amount taller than he used to be, Joey was still taller. Joey laughed and patted his back. **

**"You moved back?"**

**"Yeah. Grandpa decided to move back a few months ago." **

**Joey leaned in close to Yugi and tugged on his ear as he whispered, "You ain't savin' the world without us, are ya?" Yugi let out a small laugh that he almost had to force. Thinking of how he had saved the world made him sort of miss Atem. Like there was something missing from him. Joey didn't seem to notice as he started pushing his friend toward the college. "Come on, small-fry. We've got to show you around this place." When they got there, Yugi was glad that Joey offered to show him around; that place was huge. Téa ran up to them, waving excitedly. **

**"Yugi, you're back. I didn't expect to see you here." She said. Her hair had grown out a little, but it was long enough to where he almost didn't recognize her. He almost fell back when she rushed up and hugged him. "Welcome back." He smiled nervously and looked around. The rest of his friends met in the middle of the courtyard. It was good to see them again. Like everything was almost back to normal. Almost. He knew that Atem had to be in his own time, but it wasn't the same without him. After they had all caught up on what everyone had been doing, the bell rang for them to get to their first class. A new year had begun and he was going to make the best of it. Even if he was still the shortest person out of his friends. **

**When class started, he took notice to a dog who was laying at his feet, looking up at him. Were pets allowed at the college? A whistle was heard and the dog immediately rushed to a girl with short, snow white hair who was holding out her hand to the dog. Yugi looked towards his friends; they didn't seem to mind it. "Is she allowed to have that dog in here?" Joey made a face. **

**"That's Shonen. Don't mind the dog; he's a seeing-eye dog. She's a bit crazy, avoid her."**

**"You mean-" Téa sighed and smacked Joey's head. **

**"Ow! What did I do?" Téa smiled and looked back at Yugi.**

**"Shonen's not crazy. She's an optimist. But, yeah, she's blind. She doesn't let that slow her down, though. But there's one thing you have to know about her-" Joey pushed in front of Téa.**

**"She comes from a crazy family." Shonen smiled as she turned her head slightly their way. Joey immediately stopped talking when he got a glare from Kaiba. The class started as the teacher walked in. **

**"Good morning, class. Welcome to History 101. I am your teacher, Mr. Haruno." Yugi flipped through the history textbook and saw the pyramids of Egypt. He remembered visiting the pyramids with his grandfather. It was a memorable experience. He had looked through the tombs. It was sort of spooky, the way the cobwebs surrounded all the caskets. It made his mind go back to the dream that he'd had. Did that mean anything, or was it just his way of saying that he missed his friends? If it was, that was some weird way. He could have sworn that he spotted Atem's aura a few times. Just then, as if he had appeared out of nowhere, Atem's face appeared in front of him.**

**_Yugi!_**** He shouted. Yugi let out a loud scream and fell out of his chair. Everyone's eyes fell on him. **

**"Thank you for volunteering to lead Shonen to the restroom." Mr. Haruno said. He stood up and dusted himself off. **

**"Sorry about that, Mr. Haruno. I uh thought I saw a bee. And I uh break out in hives when stung and-"**

**"Mr. Moto!"**

**"Yes sir." The class burst out laughing as Shonen and Yugi left the classroom. _What are you doing here? I thought you left back to your time three years ago. _**

**He crossed his arms and scoffed. _Something sent me here and I have a feeling that my visit will be nothing but trouble_**

**_What are you talking about? _**

**_I'm not sure. I'm not quite sure how I got here-_**** Shonen snapped her fingers, getting his attention. **

**"You can stop walking now. This is the girls' room." She said, still smiling. Yugi looked at the sign. He saw her hand on the sign, touching the Braille print. Embarrassed, he stepped back and leaned against the wall. **

**He made sure that Shonen had shut the door before asking _Then how do you know this will be trouble?_ **

**_Something bad is coming, I have a feeling. I figured you'd have felt it, too._**

**_You don't know what it is?_**

**Atem shook his head. _I wish I did. Perhaps it's…no, impossible. That's just jumping at shadows. I think we may be in over our heads this time, but we won't let whatever it is win. _Yugi groaned.**

**"Great. I just manage to get into college and I have to save the world on my first day." Atem rolled his eyes in annoyance. _How long have you been back?_**

**_I returned late last night._**

**_Why didn't you tell me this then?_**

**_You would have thought it was a dream._**** Yugi said no more. Should he tell him that he didn't trust him? The dream he had; the silhouette was an exact replica of him. Was the Pharaoh the evil that was coming? He'd remembered that Marik had claimed him to be the evil pharaoh before. Atem watched the girls' restroom door so Yugi wouldn't be caught talking to himself. _Let's just hope we can find out what's arriving before it has time to strike._**

**_Don't do this kind of stuff around Shonen. I don't want her to think I'm crazy if Joey blabs to her about my 'imaginary friend' I can talk to. _****Atem looked at his feet with a stern face, putting his hand in his pocket.**

**_Keep away from her. We don't want any civilians getting caught up in this._**** Yugi could tell by the sound of his voice that he was hiding something, but he didn't want to egg him on about it. **

**_How am I supposed to stay away from her? We go to school together._**** Yugi put his head up in thought. _Come to think of it, why did I have to chaperone her? She has that dog._ He remembered the dog that walked up to him. Did she know about the Pharaoh? Dogs were mentioned in Egyptian history. And animals were rumored to have a sixth sense. A hand grabbed his shoulder, making him jump. **

**"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to make sure that you were still around." Yugi cleared his throat, not sure how to answer. She was very cute, but he knew that the Pharaoh wanted her to be a safe distance away from Yugi and his friends; they were a magnet for trouble. Not only that, but Yugi had trouble speaking to girls. **

**_I'm not gonna tell her that I need to stay away from her! That's rude and weird. _****He thought. Atem sighed and grabbed the Millennium Puzzle.**

**_Let me take care of this._**** He said. Before Yugi could object, he turned into Atem. "I want you to know that, due to whom I've heard is your relative, I want to keep the contact we have to a minimum." **

**_You call that taking care of it!? Do you even know how to talk to girls!?_**** Yugi asked angrily. Shonen laughed and turned her head toward him. **

**"Your voice sounds oddly deep for someone who just started college." She answered. **

**"I...am an early bloomer." Atem answered. **

**"And I respect your decision even though you shouldn't worry about Toto. But if that _is _the case, did you imagine we'd be spending a lot of time together?" Yugi's eyebrow cocked in confusion. Toto? **

**_Who's Toto? What is she talking about? You know what she's talking about, don't you?_**** Yugi asked. Atem shot a glare, telling him to be quiet. **

**_If I can't talk to you during your time in public, don't talk to me in public. _****"Though, I do have one question. If you have a seeing-eye dog, why did you need an escort?" **

**"Well, the main reason is because Kai's afraid of girls' bathrooms. He's a little gentleman. But I think the reason he asked you was to get you out of his classroom." **

**_Give me back my body!_**** Yugi shouted. If they didn't switch back soon, the Pharaoh would have to go through the rest of the class posing as Yugi. Yugi noticed that his ancient friend wasn't putting his hand in his pocket, but _hiding _his hand. What was he hiding? Had he fought a different evil and suffered a hand injury? Of course, he didn't bother asking; he felt that he wouldn't get a truthful answer, anyway. The pharaoh was hiding something, but he wasn't sure what it could have been. Shonen walked into the classroom ahead of Atem. He stopped outside of the classroom and gave Yugi his body back. _Was that so hard?_**

**_Now's not the time. Keep your distance. We'll talk later._**** Yugi groaned as he walked back in the classroom. Judging by the way his teacher was staring at him, he knew he was going to want someone else to replace him. By the time the last bell rang, Yugi's mind was trying to imagine what the dream could have meant if Atem _wasn't _the evil. What other types of ancient Egyptian evil could there be? When he got home, he would have to get more information from Atem. That would have to wait.**

**Tristan ran up to him. "Hey, Yugi! Where have you been? I didn't expect you to be back." He patted his back. Yugi laughed nervously, rubbing his back.**

**"Hey. Have you been working out?" He hoped that the pain on his face wasn't too noticeable. Tristan flexed his muscles.**

**"Oh, you noticed. Yeah, I've been hitting the gym for the past month." **

**Joey rolled his eyes and muttered, "The way you smell, it sounds like the gym's been hittin' _you_."**

**"That didn't even make since!"**

**"Did it hurt your feelings?"**

**"A little."**

**"Then it made sense!" **

**"Guys, look we need to talk. I can't say it out loud." Yugi cut in. They all grouped at a picnic table. "The Pharaoh returned and he says that we're all in trouble. There's a new threat that's come to take over the world. The Pharaoh isn't sure what it is, but he thinks it's big trouble." **

**"Does he know how long it'll take before we can find this evil?" Joey asked. Yugi shook his head. **

**"We still need to find out what the evil is." Téa looked at the giant clock in the middle of the common grounds. **

**"We should all be getting home. We'll talk about it tomorrow before school." She informed. **

**"Great. The first nine hours of college and we have to go save the world. At least I don't have to do my homework." Joey said, walking away. The group looked at the road as they heard a loud horn honk and tires screech. When they ran to the scene, they saw Kaiba and Shonen lying on the ground, Kaiba's arm around her protectively. From what Yugi could see, he assumed that Kaiba had pushed her to the ground to protect her from the oncoming semi-truck that had crashed into a nearby streetlight. Her dog ran up to Yugi, lying at his feet once more. **

**"Are you all right?" Kaiba asked Shonen as he helped her to her feet. **

**"Yes, thank you. I don't know what happened. Kai doesn't usually run off like that." She whistled and the dog named Kai ran back to her. **

**"Yugi, I should have known you wouldn't stay gone." **

**"Be nice to him, Toto. It's his first day back from what I hear." Yugi fell to the ground as he heard that name. **

**"You're related to Kaiba!? _HE'S _TOTO!?" Yugi asked. A sour look from Kaiba got Joey laughing harder than he had been from hearing the nickname that had been bestowed upon him by Shonen. **

**"Can it, Wheeler!" Kaiba snapped.**

**"What are you gonna do? Send me off to munchkin land with Dorothy, Toto?" Kaiba raised his hand to punch Joey, but growled, realizing that Shonen put her hand in front of him. Kaiba's anger turned back toward Yugi, who was still in disbelief.**

**"What's it to you, Yugi? She's my cousin. Is there a problem?" **

**"Uh, no problem. I just don't see the resemblance." Yugi looked away quickly. Joey rolled his eyes and used Yugi's head as an armrest.**

**"Don't be threatened by Yugi here, I mean, come on. He's got a tail comin' out the back o' his head for cryin' out loud." Joey said, pointing out the ponytail Yugi was sporting. Kaiba grabbed the front of Joey's shirt.**

**"I'm not threatened by that squirt. And I have no reason to be. She may be blind, but I know she's not dumb enough to fall for a squirt like him." **

**"I bet the reason she's blind is because she stabbed herself in the eyes so she won't have to look at your ugly face!" **

**"You idiot, she was born blind." **

**"I think I'd be much better off if you two stopped shouting. You're upsetting Kai." Shonen said, scratching her dog's ears. **

**"Gee, Yugi, that dog sure seems to like you." Téa said. Yugi laughed nervously.**

**"I guess it's a natural instinct." Yugi grinned.**

**"Yugi? You sound a bit different than earlier." Shonen said with a confused look on her face. Yugi coughed and cleared his throat.**

**He said in a forced deep voice, "Sorry, my voice cracks sometimes." Atem rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. **

**_I _****don't_ sound like that._ Shonen nodded as if she understood. _You have to get away from her. Now._ Yugi turned to where Atem was standing, even though no one could see him, and balled his hands into fists.**

**_What's wrong with her? _****Thankfully he had been able to fight his urge to shout. **

**_There's nothing wrong with her, we just have too many innocent people involved in this. If you get too close to her, she could get hurt._**

**_You're hiding something from me and I want to know what. Is there something that has to do with her ancestor? _****Atem didn't answer; he just kept his hand in his pocket. Yugi shook his head in an annoyed way and looked back at his friends. Joey and Kaiba had already gotten into another shouting argument. Shonen stepped between them and grabbed Kaiba's arm.**

**"Come on, Toto, we need to get home." Joey and Tristan laughed behind their hands. Kaiba smacked her hand away. **

**"Don't call me Toto. You're just giving these morons more material to annoy me with." Kaiba snarled at Joey who was mocking him. Téa walked in between the boys and grabbed Joey and Tristan's ears. They immediately stopped their laughing and cried out in pain. **

**"Cool it you two unless you want _me _to take a swing at you." Both boys shut their mouths and rubbed their ears as she let them go. Téa innocently smiled at Kaiba. Instead of thanking her like she clearly expected him to do, he scoffed and turned away.**

**"I don't need you to fight my battles. Come on, Shonen. I'm taking you home." He grabbed her arm and yanked her away.**

**"Okay. Bye, Yugi." Shonen said as her dog barked good-bye to Yugi. Joey made kissing faces at Yugi. **

**"You got a crush on the little she-devil." Joey smiled. **

**"What did she mean when she said you sound different?" Téa asked, pushing Joey into a wall. **

**"Well, when she was talking to me earlier, she was really talking to the Pharaoh." Yugi explained. Joey burst out laughing. "What's so funny?"**

**"The only pretty girl you see, she thinks your ancestor is you. Talk about bad luck."**

**"Why did he talk to her?" Téa asked.**

**"Because I have a hard time talking to girls." Yugi admitted with his cheeks turning red. Téa angrily crossed her arms.**

**"What am I? French toast?" **

**"Uh, what I meant was-"**

**"_Pretty _girls?"**

**"Yes. No. You see-Pharaoh, wanna help here?" There was a flash and Yugi was now Atem. He looked down at the Millennium Puzzle and growled.**

**"Just because I'm back, doesn't mean that you can use this to escape out of every rough patch you get to!" During the fit, the Pharaoh had accidentally smacked Joey across the face. **

**"Ow! Watch it, Slappy." Joey snapped. Tristan looked at the mark that was left and tilted his head in confusion.**

**"That's one weird hand mark. This part right here is deeper than the rest." They all looked at Atem, who was still shouting at Yugi. Joey grabbed his right hand and looked closer at it. The group stood in dead silence as they spotted a ring on his finger. "What's with the ring?"**

**"You get hitched or somethin'?" Joey asked. Atem stood there in silence and nonchalantly walked away, putting his hands in his pockets. **

**_Okay, tell me what the heck that was all about! Why didn't you answer them? What's going on?_**** Yugi asked. **

**_Yugi, I'd appreciate it if you stopped talking. I need a few minutes of silence._**

**_How did you know she was Kaiba's cousin?_**

**_I never said I knew who her cousin was. I overheard Joey mentioning that you didn't want to know who her relative is. I was trying to use that as an excuse._**

**_What are you hiding from me? _**

**_I'll tell you when you're ready to know. _****Yugi stopped walking and tilted his head**

**_What the heck does_**** that_ mean?_**

**_It means I'm not telling you until I want to talk about it! Now let it go, Yugi!_**** Yugi nodded meekly and sighed. The ring was on his ring finger. Did he get married? It would make a lot of sense. Yugi wouldn't want to get married and then go to the future shortly after. Of course, this reason wasn't a very good one, but it was the only excuse he could think of. At least, it was the only good one. Maybe it was just a ring. Something did happen, though. Well, at least his college years would be interesting. His friends were around, Atem was back; everything seemed to be like old times. Except for Shonen. **

**How could you go out with someone if your smarter friend goes against it and she's related to the one person who hates you? Yugi shook himself. No, he promised the Pharaoh that he would stay away from her. But she seemed to like him. So much for his 'old times' theory. **

**When he had gotten home, his grandfather was fast asleep on the couch. All Yugi wanted to do was plop on his bed and follow the wise actions of his grandfather, but judging by what he had been told, he guessed that his nap would have to wait. He was right. _If I managed to get back here, I know that whatever sent me here is probably as powerful as Marik, maybe even more. _Atem said. **

**_How the heck are we going to be able to fight them? What if they're even more powerful? We don't know if they're even vulnerable!_**

**_We haven't seen any sign of whatever it is. That could possibly mean that we have time to figure it out before it gets here._**

**Yugi didn't like the sound of that. It wasn't _when _it got there, it was what they'd be facing that scared him. Atem couldn't even exist on _his _own. How did he plan on stopping it if he was weaker than it? He seemed to read his mind, because he continued with, _I don't know how I managed to get here, nor do I know if I can even get back. But I know that I won't stop until I find out what it is and how to stop it._ **

**Yugi regretted asking his next question, but he blurted out, _What if you can't stop it?_**

**A long silence befell them that made Yugi feel even more hopeless. The silence made Yugi imagine him saying, 'the tiniest bit of evil can make someone a possible body host.' To his relief, Atem finally answered, _It's going to attack when it thinks I'm at my weakest point, I believe. If it hasn't attacked yet, that means it doesn't have a lot of power, whatever it is. If we're lucky, we may be able to find the source of its power and destroy it._**

**_How? _****There was another silence that had the aura of not being answered, so he let the question go. **

**Later that night, Yugi found himself in the dream world. Odd. He didn't remember going to sleep. He _did _remember doing his homework; maybe he blacked out and fell asleep. Yugi walked around, trying to figure out what he was dreaming about. The first thing he ran into was a figure that turned out to be Shonen. She was smiling at him without saying a word. Remembering what Atem had said, he shook her image away, but another appeared in its place. This time, he was in a large corridor made of yellow bricks. In front of him was a large wooden door. A simpler version of Atem's Soul Room.**

**Something drew him to it. He opened it a crack to see that it was a throne room. This would have been normal, had Atem not been in the throne at the end of the room. At first, he tried to close the door quickly in fear that he had been seen, but when he realized that he wasn't even noticed, he stopped. There Yugi was, in plain sight, but no one in the room had noticed him. Then again, it _was _a dream. The strange part of the dream was that Atem wasn't in the modern-day clothes but that he was in clothes that Yugi guessed were what Egyptians wore 8,000 years ago. Perhaps it was because the years he had spent with his grandfather in Egypt, learning to read hieroglyphs.**

**He left the throne room and continued walking down the hall; nothing entertaining was happening in the throne room. The boy had not walked two feet before he spotted another door. Was this door here before? It was a dream, but what was the purpose of this dream? Yugi opened the door, only to see it be another boring scene; Pharaoh Atem walking through the village. He heard a familiar voice shout "Shisen, no! Come back!" Yugi ran to the source, seeing a large golden door. More shouting came from behind the door and then sobbing. Before Yugi could even touch the door, a hand grabbed his shoulder angrily. He turned around quickly. **

**Atem was standing behind him and he didn't look too happy. "What are you doing in here?"**

**"I-" He had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't a dream. "I didn't know, I thought this was all a dream."**

**"Get out of my memories."**

**"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Atem rested his hand on the door. "What's behind that door? Who was that screaming?" The Pharaoh didn't answer, but tensed up and kept his head down. **

**"Good-bye, Yugi." He squeezed through the door, making sure that it was open enough for only him to get through and Yugi not to see, and then slammed the door shut, the lock clicking echoed through the long corridor. Before Yugi could try to talk to Atem, the door melted away and Yugi jerked awake. Had that been a dream? There was only one way to find out. That was when his attention turned to the clock on his night stand. Maybe he'd talk about it when it wasn't the middle of the night. **

**He sighed and got in his bed. Perhaps he could go to sleep without accidentally entering Atem's memories again. Yugi had barely closed his eyes before he opened his eyes in his classroom. That following morning had been a blur. He had almost forgotten about the incident that had happened in the dream world. When he woke up, he had slumped into his shoes and out the door. He enjoyed the moment of peace when Atem had taken his solid form, letting Yugi relax while the Pharaoh explained what was going on with the Sins. He didn't really remember what was being said, but he figured it wasn't something too important, since Atem had already explained the evil to Yugi. He was now staring cluelessly at the teacher who had clearly asked him a question. When he couldn't answer, Mr. Haruno turned his back to the sleepy student and continued writing on the chalkboard.**

**"I suggest, Mr. Moto that if you want to pass you freshman college year, you'll stay awake in class." He snapped. Yugi nodded and cleared his throat. **

**Joey leaned over to him and whispered, "Don't worry. Just tell him that you saved the world. I'm sure he'll go easy on ya." **

**"I'm not sure if you're joking or not." Yugi whispered back. **

**_Yugi, I apologize for the way I acted last night. I've just had a rough three years in my absence. I understand that you didn't mean to wander into my memories, but I appreciate it if you didn't do that again. _****Yugi had no intentions on doing that again. But his mind then wandered back to what he had heard. Shisen. Who was Shisen? And who was the one calling for them? Whoever Shisen was, Atem knew both Shisen and whoever was calling them because they were in a memory. What was he hiding? Perhaps there was a way to find out without Atem finding out. And that anger, it just seemed to add to his suspicions. Again, his eyes fell on Shonen. As other students were writing down notes, he noticed that the laptop she had was recording everything the teacher was saying. He leaned over, trying to get a better look even though he could hear the teacher. **

**Kaiba angrily moved in front of Yugi, blocking his view. _What are you doing?_ Atem asked with a very confused look. Yugi swore he heard Shonen giggling at him. Instead of explaining – partly because he couldn't even explain what he was doing – Yugi leaned over slightly, trying to get a better look. For some reason, he wanted to see what was being recorded on her laptop. Perhaps it was because he had never seen a device like that before and wanted to see how well it worked, or maybe it was just because he wanted to keep staring at her. Unfortunately, he leaned over a little too far and fell out of his seat.**

**The class stared at him as he got to his feet. Shonen bent over and picked something up by her feet; the Millennium Puzzle had fallen from around Yugi's neck in the fall. When she grabbed it, her finger ran over the eye that was engraved in the Puzzle. Suddenly, she dropped the Puzzle with a jerk and blinked. Dusting herself off for no apparent reason, she pick up the Puzzle by the chain. Yugi quickly grabbed the Puzzle and put it back on. **

**Yugi tried to think of an excuse so he wouldn't get in trouble again. "Sorry, Mr. Haruno. I-" Shonen stood up.**

**"My dog was pulling on his shirt sleeve and he started playing a bit too rough, I apologize for that. I'll take him outside right away." Shonen lied. Yugi's jaw dropped. Why had she lied for him? "It's time for his exercise anyway. If you want, Mr. Haruno, I can tie him up outside so he's less of a disturbance." The teacher shook his head. **

**"And if you do that, how would you return to class?" He asked. **

**Shonen let out a tiny laugh. "What about an escort? Certainly you can let one of your students take five minutes to lead me outdoors and back to class?" There was a silence.**

**"Fine. Kaiba, since you're so keen on keeping her two feet from you, why don-"**

**"I'd like to be escorted by Yugi, if that's okay." Kaiba shot a nasty look at Yugi as if he had simply fallen just to plan this with her. **

**"Sorry, Shonen, but I'm a teacher, not a matchmaker. It's not my job to pair a student with their crush." Mr. Haruno went back to writing on the chalkboard. Kaiba stood, but Shonen shook her head even though she didn't see him. He must have been predictable to her. **

**"Excuse me sir, I don't mean to argue with your reasoning, but since I'm blind, wouldn't your crush theory be put to the test?"**

**"I wasn't talking about _you_…" Snickers from the class could be heard. After a moment of silence, he let out an angry sigh since she didn't make a move. "Fine. You two have five minutes to return to class or you both have detention." Shonen bowed, grabbed Kai's leash and walked away as Yugi stood there befuddled. "If you stand like that for a long amount of time, you'll rust." He blinked and ran out of the classroom. Yugi caught up to Shonen who hadn't realized that he had barely managed to catch up to her even though his steps, so he thought, felt like earthquakes under him. **

**She tied her dog to a picnic bench and let the dog lick her face. "I want to know more about that artifact you dropped." She said suddenly. It almost surprised Yugi that she had brought it up. **

**"Artifact? Oh, my Millennium Puzzle. What about it?" Yugi asked, holding it. The sun shone off her snowy hair as she stood. **

**"It's magic, isn't it?" At least she wasn't complaining about his voice. Yugi gave a stuttered laugh. What cover-up could he make this time?**

**"Magic? Magic isn't real. I think that a relative of Kaiba would-"**

**"Not believe in magic? In case you haven't noticed, Yugi, I'm not him. I know it's magic because when I picked it up, I saw." Of course, she barely remembered _what _she saw, but she knew she saw. **

**_Can the Millennium Puzzle give sight? _****Yugi glanced at where the Pharaoh was, looking for an answer. He shrugged, not knowing the answer either. "What? What did you see?" **

**"I don't really remember, but I think it was just the classroom. I know there was a lot of people." He didn't know why he had asked that question. It seemed stupider each time he thought about it. "Let me try it again. Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me."**

**So that was why she was so insistent on getting Yugi to walk with her. Even when Atem wasn't being Yugi, he was still getting more attention that Yugi. But Yugi nodded and grabbed her hand to let her touch the Puzzle. At first, she was disappointed when nothing happened, but her hand traveled onto the eye again and her 'sight' had come back. Even though she wanted to see more than she had last time, her hand only stayed on for a few seconds. This time, her face was more confused. "What's wrong?"**

**"This time…The sights seemed to rush at me. Almost as if they were…"**

**_Memories…_**** Yugi blinked as Atem's conclusion to the sentence filled his head. Shonen touched his face and laughed. **

**"You're worried about something. Is it Toto? Don't worry about him. He's just protective." There was an awkward silence. Honestly, Yugi was more scared of Kaiba than the evil, whatever it was. Don't worry about him? The only reason Kaiba hadn't killed him yet was because Shonen was always there. **

**_Let's go, Yugi. You already have enough trouble with your teacher as it is. _****They continued walking back to class. Shonen seemed distraught and lost in her thinking. _Ask her what's troubling her. She looks confused. _Yugi wanted to object to that. What was going on? First he didn't want him anywhere near her, now he was trying to get him to talk to her? He had trouble talking to her. **

**"What's wrong?" Yugi asked. **

**"Nothing…It's just that those memories, I don't remember them happening to me, but somehow I know they happened."**

**"Well, maybe they're…suppressed memories. You know, lost in the subconscious?" Shonen nodded in agreement, though neither of them thought this was the truth. **

**"There was actually something I wanted to ask you, but I'll wait until after school." Yugi blinked, nervous. There was no way that she was going to ask him what he thought she was going to. No, impossible. Especially not after the past couple of days. It was absurd to think that, but there was a little bit of hope. But what about the new evil and Atem? Judging by the aura that Yugi was getting from him, Atem had the same thought but didn't say anything. Yugi didn't concentrate on the rest of his schoolwork the entire day. In astrology, he thought his teacher Mrs. Sutā mentioned that the history of constellations told stories in the old days. In trigonometry, his teacher may have assigned extra credit points to the person who could solve some math equation on the board. He didn't really remember. **

**By the time college let out, Yugi had met up with his friends. _Where is she? _Panic struck him as he thought perhaps she had forgotten. This fear went away when a familiar bark came from behind him. Kai led Shonen over toward him and his friends. **

**"Is everyone here?" Shonen asked. Everyone? Well, there went his hopes. Most of them, at least. Part of him hoped that perhaps she wanted to ask him out in front of his friends, but that was highly unlikely. Téa, Joey, and Tristan gathered by Yugi. "I wanted to ask you all a question." Just like that, his hopes vanished. "My birthday is coming up next week and since you all seemed really…nice yesterday, I figured that it would be nice to get to know you all a little more. I was hoping that you would all come to my birthday party?" Yugi deflated, feeling defeated. **

**"I think that's really nice of you, Shonen. But what about Seto?" Téa asked.**

**"Yeah, is that jerk gonna come?" Joey asked. Shonen laughed and raised an eyebrow.**

**"Well, he's my cousin, so yes, he'll be there. Don't worry. He promised that he'd be on his best behavior. And if he doesn't, he'll go home." Shonen answered. Téa growled and grabbed Joey's ear.**

**"I meant, don't you think he'd like it better if we _weren't _there?" Téa asked. **

**"He tried talking me out of it, but it's my birthday. If he doesn't want to stay, he can drop off whatever he got me and leave. I won't be offended." **

**_Yugi, we can't go._**** Atem said.**

**"Why not?" Yugi asked out loud accidentally. Thankfully, Shonen had thought it was a question towards her.**

**"Because he's my cousin and I respect his choices even if I don't approve of his attitude." Shonen answered. Kai sat at Yugi's feet, whining as if he felt he wasn't paying attention to him. **

**_Because we have other things to worry about than her birthday. In a week, the evil could-_**

**_Alright, alright. Enough with the 'great evil' excuses. You don't want to tell me why I can't or what your memories are so hidden about. That's all you have to say. _**

**_I wasn't trying to make an excuse with the evil. I was trying to say that it could be here and you'd be halfway around the world trying to stop them. So don't make those kinds of promises until we-I just saw one of them. That way. I know that dark cloak anywhere. We have to go._**** Yugi looked around, trying to see a cloaked figure, but he couldn't see anything. One of who? The evil? Did he think there was more than one? Whatever it was, it must've turned a corner. **

**"Sorry, Shonen. I'll try to come, but I'm not sure yet. My grandfather is kind of ill, so I might have to take care of him. But I have to go, bye. See you tomorrow." Yugi ran off. _Where'd he go? _He stopped, looking around. How could he see the evil? Yugi couldn't see anything with the crowd of people around him. **

**_This way!_**** Yugi ran around a corner and into an alleyway. _Where did he go? I saw him go this way._ The confused boy turned around, looking for maybe a secret passage. A hand appeared behind him and pulled him into the wall. Instead of him slamming against the wall, Yugi went through the wall and into another dimension. Judging by the way the dimension looked, dank and creepy with dark purple walls that you never seemed to run into no matter how far you ran, and the six cloaked figures standing before him, he guessed it was where the evil lived. Six? This couldn't have been a coincidence. Their shapes didn't match the ones that were in his dream. **

**"It's just a boy. Idiot! You said it was the Pharaoh." A raspy voice said. That one was clearly female, but for some reason Yugi could tell it wasn't the one that he had chased. They all looked the same, their faces covered by the shadow of their cloaks and no limbs or body features were shown either. The one standing to her left growled at his sister. **

**"Well they look the same from the back. Same stupid hair and everything. Perhaps this is his descendant?" **

**"With _that_ fashion sense? It's possible." All six pairs of eyes fell on the Puzzle around his neck. Another one, judging by the way it walked was a girl, grinned, baring her teeth which were shiny and white. She pulled Yugi to his feet and held the Puzzle in her hand. It was an ugly hand with leathery skin, long ugly nails and bony fingers. Atem had said that they didn't have a form. Did he mean that they didn't have a form worth staring at? **

**"I see you have a Millennium Item. Tell me boy, where did you get this?" She asked. Even though Yugi figured that under the hood was something ugly, her voice was like silk. It was then Yugi knew that she must have been the pretty one of the bunch.**

**_Don't tell her anything. She'll go after your grandfather._**** Atem snapped. The woman started circling around Yugi. **

**"Hand over that Puzzle and we can give you anything you want. Don't listen to the Pharaoh. He misunderstands our intentions. We want to better the world, not rule it." They could hear him. Could they see the Pharaoh, too? **

**_Don't listen to her, Yugi!_**

**"Think about it. If you hand over the Puzzle, you can finally be normal. No worrying about saving the world, no ancient pharaoh keeping you from being with a girl you like, and best of all, it's the easiest thing to do. Hand me the Puzzle and we'll let you go." **

**_No, Yugi! She's trying to unleash the Sin in you! All they need is a little bit of-_**** The woman shot a glare as if she could hear him and he fell to his knees, holding his head. Sin? What was going on?**

**"Hand over the Puzzle." Yugi held his Puzzle and thought. It was as if he couldn't hear Atem. Before Yugi could make another movement, Atem took his place and punched her in the face, causing her to stumble back and break the concentration she had on Yugi. "So you've returned, too. It's about time. I thought I was going to actually use that boy." **

**"What?" The other five jumped on him and held him, gripping his arms tight enough to break them if they wanted to. He should have known; it was a trap. They knew he was in the Puzzle and wanted to get him out of it so they could kill him. "Nice trap, but you won't win."**

**"Don't you know it's rude to hit a lady?" **

**"Don't _you _know it's rude to not bow to royalty?" A low growl came from her and she ran her long nails across his chin. Not to cut, but to make sure that he knew she could easily send them through his jugular veins. **

**"You're not royalty in this world. Any last words before I kill you?" **

**"Only that I request you let me empty out my pockets before you do it. I'd hate to die with my wallet on me." She looked at him suspiciously, but allowed him to pull something from his pocket and immediately regretted it. What he had pulled out was a golden necklace with a shining ruby on it. He shoved it in her face, hearing her shrieks of pain. The shortest one threw her aside and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. A fog of a sort came from under his hood and traveled through the open mouth of Atem, his nostrils, and traveled through his eyes. Once all the green fog had transferred, the shortest one threw him to the ground and Atem felt the cement of the alleyway beneath him. **

**They had returned home. Shakily, he got to his feet and leaned against a dumpster. He felt weak and tired. His eyes rolled back as he fell to the ground, unconscious. **

**He woke hours later, not sure where he was. Voices could be heard mumbling. Was he back in the Sins' Realm? Judging by the comfort around him, he doubted it. His vision was blurry and his head hurt. When he sat up, the pain in his head increased. A hand grabbed his shoulder gently. He turned to see who it was, but his vision was still blurry and the sharp pain in his head didn't really help. It was a voice he didn't recognize either. "Take it easy. You've got a concussion. You need to lie down." What had happened? How did he get here? Where _was _here? **

**The white walls around him made him guess it was a hospital. The nurse walked out and he looked around as his vision became clearer. He _was _in a hospital. **

**How long had he been unconscious? Who brought him here? Did Yugi get corrupted by the Sins? Only one way to find out. _Yugi, can you hear me?_ He asked mentally. At first, nothing happened, but then a translucent Yugi appeared beside him. **

**_What happened? The last thing I remember is that thing trying to talk me into handing her the Puzzle. How did we escape?_**** Yugi asked. Atem held his head. _What was that thing? And what did you mean by Sin?_ **

**_Don't ask so many questions, I have a headache._**** He still felt weak. Then he remembered what had happened. Where was the necklace? He realized that he was in a hospital gown. Where were his clothes? Before his mental questions could be answered, Téa, Joey and Tristan walked into the room. **

**"We're so glad you're okay. It's a good thing Kai likes you so much. After you ran off, he followed you." Kai? His life was saved by a dog? "Shonen's waiting out in the waiting room for you. She says that she'll come in later when you feel a little better." Téa hugged him and rested her hand on his bandaged head. "What happened?"**

**"The Sins. They dragged us into their realm. I barely managed to escape. Where are my things?" Téa shook her head and sighed. **

**"You need to stay here for a few more hours. The doctors need to see how bad your head injury is. It's a good thing Kai found you or something bad could have happened. It's dangerous to fall asleep with a concussion." **

**"Yeah, you might need to work on not fainting if you wanna survive the Sins. I don't think it'll be too easy when the only member of our team that knows what to do is in the hospital." Joey added. Atem rubbed his head. "One more question, what the heck is a Sin?"**

**"You mean like the Seven Deadly Sins in the Bible?" Tristan asked. Atem nodded. **

**"I fell unconscious not because of the head injury, but because the Sins weakened me. Like they sucked the energy from me. When I fainted, I think I may have hit my head on the cement a little too hard. How long was I unconscious?" The three looked at the clock on the wall and shrugged. **

**_Answer his question! _****Yugi snapped.**

**"The Sins are seven ancient evils that are power crazy. They can find power in the smallest of Sin in anyone. I feared that it was them, but I know for sure that they are the ones who are the threat now. Beating them isn't easy, but it is possible."**

**"…You've been out a few days." Joey answered. **

**"What?" Téa punched him across the head. **

**"Ow! I was only kidding. A couple of hours." **

**"Well, at least we know what's going to be terrorizing us." Téa answered. Kai came trotting in, panting excitedly to see how well his rescue mission had gone. Once he saw that he was okay, he gave one happy bark and licked his hand. The leash around his neck was in the hands of Shonen, who was standing in the doorway. She ran up to him and hugged him.**

**"I'm so glad you're okay. When they told me about what had happened, I ran here as fast as I could." She said. Her hand rested on his face. He could feel her shaking. **

**"Honestly, I'm fine. You didn't need to worry. It's just a concussion." Kai jumped on the bed and rested at his feet. **

**"Kai kept whimpering. He was worried sick. For some reason he likes you." Her dog barked again in agreement. A doctor passing by poked his head in the room.**

**"Ma'am, no pets are allowed in the hospital." He said. Shonen put her hand on the dog's harness that read 'seeing-eye'. "I apologize, but keep the dog down. He's disturbing the other patients." **

**"Yes, sir." The doctor walked away. Shonen put her hand on Atem's. "You feel weak. Something is on your mind. You have hidden memories that you want to forget, don't you?" He was speechless. "Don't linger in the past. You need to tell someone your troubles or it can greatly hurt you both physically and mentally." Her hand went from his hand to his face. "If you worry too much, you'll get frown lines." She kissed his cheek and walked away with Kai leading her out. He could almost feel a spark of hatred from Yugi emit from him. Maybe he was just imagining it. **

**In the Sins' Realm, they were grouped together, laughing as if they had some sort of victory. "This is going to be easier than I thought." Pride gloated. Gluttony took a sip of wine. Of course the Sins already had their plan figured out. The certain circumstances had made things easier on them. **

**"Who'd have thought that Shitsumei would be here? Now with him keeping his mind on something else, it's going to be easy." Gluttony laughed. Lust growled and knocked a table over. **

**"Fools. Be that as it may, we can't get the Sin out of the boy as long as the Pharaoh shares a body with him." She snapped. Her brothers and sisters were quiet. "If we want to awaken Wrath, we need to get enough Sin out of these pathetic civilians. And if he has that necklace, we're as good as failures." Envy stood up. **

**"Don't worry, dear sister. I have everything under control for the Sin. We just need to separate the bodies. As for the necklace, I have a feeling he won't have it for long." The Sins looked at him and smiled as if they knew what he was talking about. **

**"But how do we kill the Pharaoh?" Gluttony asked. Envy smirked. **

**"We use the same thing we did before to make him the weak worm he is." Again, all the Sins smiled evilly. The six siblings stared at a great coffin that had a giant W on it. Envy rested his hand on the coffin. **

**"Do not worry, sister. Soon your time will come." **

**The week passed by quicker than the first two days did. Yugi did little talking to Atem and focused more on his schoolwork than the Sins. Whenever the subject was brought up, Yugi would say that he had schoolwork to do and would stare at a textbook without really reading it or anything really. Every time Shonen made an attempt to talk to him, he would make an excuse that he had things to do. **

**By the time Yugi talked to Atem again, it would lead to another Sin attack. **

**Yugi had been lying in the middle of a field, enjoying his time away from school. The silence had clearly gotten to Atem because he had randomly burst out, _Alright, Yugi. I've about had it. What is going on with you? You've been ignoring me and it's getting on my nerves. I haven't done a single thing to you and you've been acting like I've done something wrong. What is wrong with you?_**

**_Nothing. I've just been trying to concentrate on normal schoolwork. The Sins are your problem, not mine._**

**_Yugi! Is this because of what Shonen did-_**

**"This has nothing to do with Shonen. It has to do with you coming and making my life a deathtrap!" Atem went to speak, but Yugi cut him off. "Not only that, but you come out of nowhere telling me that I'm in danger, and you don't even tell me what I'm dealing with except for the fact that it's almost impossible to beat them! And then there's all the lies you've been telling me. For some reason, you won't let me be anywhere near Shonen and there are memories that are possibly going to help us, but you won't tell me either of those and to top it off, ever since you came back, I've looked stupid in front of my teacher for the past week!" Atem was silent for a minute. **

**_I only know what I've told you about the Sins and I'm not telling you my memories because thinking about them hurts me. I fear that if you find out, you'll be an even bigger chance of getting controlled by the Sins, but I know that if I don't tell you, I will be helpless to beat them. So I will tell you._**** He wasn't sure if that was for the best, but he needed Yugi's help on this. Yugi seemed to calm down even though Atem could see a green aura surround him. They both traveled to the familiar corridor. The Pharaoh stopped at the large, golden door. Before he opened the door, a familiar voice could be heard. **

**"Go ahead and show him. I'll be right here waiting to take him under my control." Envy had entered his mind. Yugi looked at his ancient friend. **

**"What is he talking about?" Yugi asked. **

**"You haven't told him? I thought you two were closer than that." **

**"I knew it. It's too dangerous to show you." Atem answered, putting his hand away from the door. **

**"Why? What's behind that door?" Yugi asked angrily. Atem held him from opening the door. "Let me see!" As they were arguing, Envy had melted away the door, leaving nothing but an opening. Yugi looked inside and his jaw dropped. He angrily turned to Atem, his eyes glowing green. Envy had taken over him. Suddenly, they were back in the field, both of them having splitting headaches. Both were crying out in pain. Atem fell to the ground, though oddly enough he saw Yugi beside him, solid as ever. Envy smiled as he held out his arms, collecting a green aura from Yugi. Envy had corrupted Yugi. **

**An evil laugh came from Envy as he tilted his head up – his clothes had changed to a fashion similar to Yugi's – and his face looked a lot like Yugi's as did his hair, though it had less spikes and there was a golden 'E' on his face. Envy had taken form. "No!" Atem shouted. **

**"Perfect. I would kill you now, but we're saving _you _for Wrath." Envy disappeared. Yugi ran up to Atem and punched him in the face. **

**"WHY DID YOU KEEP THAT FROM ME!?" He asked angrily.**

**"You're the one who should be yelled at. You just gave one of the Sins power!" Atem retorted. **

**"Why does this stuff always happen to me? You've got your own form now, so you don't need me. You're on your own now." **

**"Yugi, they did this so I wouldn't be there to protect you from them." **

**"I don't _need _you to protect me!"**

**"You're just angry. You don't know what you're saying." **

**"I know perfectly well what I'm saying. I'm not a little child anymore. If I get into trouble with Sins then I can handle it."**

**"No you can't. He just sucked Envy right from you!"**

**"MAYBE I LET HIM! Maybe I wanted him to kill you." Atem stepped back, speechless. Even though it was the Sin talking, he had to fight himself from hitting him. It was all he could do to talk calmly to Yugi. It was too late, the Sins had already acquired their next target he knew it. Yugi stomped away, muttering something that Atem figured was a bunch of swear words. Atem ran to Téa's house. **

**"Huh? What are you doing here?" She asked. **

**"Yugi's in trouble. One of the Sins got his body and is using every little bit of Sin in him. He won't listen to me. Someone needs to stay near him to make sure that he stays out of any trouble." **

**"What? What happened?"**

**"I can't explain it now, but keep an eye on him. You're going to Shonen's birthday, correct?"**

**"Yeah, why?"**

**"Give this to her. It'll keep her safe from the Sins, trust me." He put the gold necklace that he had used in the Sins' Realm in her hand and ran off. How could he protect Yugi? The Sins planned this and he had to admit it was a brilliant plan. How could he keep the Sins from getting anyone else? There were only five more to go before they had enough power to awaken Wrath. And who had enough Wrath to be corrupted by her? That was another thing he needed to find out before it was too late. **

**"That was a bit…odd." Téa shut her door, confused. He knew that Yugi wouldn't talk to him, but would he at least listen? There was only one way to find out. He walked to Yugi's house. The light in Yugi's bedroom was on. He knew that if he was spotted by Solomon, there'd be a lot of explaining to do. Instead, he climbed up a tree and knocked on Yugi's window. Yugi frowned and shut the blinds on his window. **

**"I just want to talk. You don't have to speak, but I'm begging you to at least listen to me." Angrily, Yugi put on a Halloween mask and opened the blinds. Atem let out an audible gasp and fell out of the tree. "Ow." Yugi opened the window and looked down. At first, he looked worried, but he quickly tried to hide it when he saw that Atem was still breathing. The Pharaoh angrily stood up and climbed the tree again. "Please, let me explain." **

**"I have homework to do."**

**"It's Saturday, Yugi." **

**"That's college for you."**

**"Please, Yugi. Give me five minutes to explain." Yugi groaned and opened the window. Atem stepped in the room and dusted himself off. Yugi folded his arms, awaiting an explanation. "I wanted to tell you, honest, but I knew that if I had told you, you would have become envious and I didn't want to risk your safety with the Sins. Now that you've unleashed a Sin, they'll be after you. I didn't even know that the Sins were here. They separated our bodies because as long as we shared a host body, they couldn't get sin and kill me at the same time. Now that they've done it, there's no telling what they'll do to complete their mission. They'll probably want to kill me first. They want us to fight. The more we fight, the further apart we become, and the greater your chances are of getting hurt. If that happened, I don't know how I'd live with myself if you got hurt. That's why I had to keep it a secret from you. Do you forgive me?" Yugi looked at him and then back at the pictures on his desk that he had been looking at, claiming it was homework. **

**"It's not that I'm mad for you keeping it from me to protect me, it's just…I really like her and now that I know about…that, I'd feel guilty even trying to go out with her. It just shocked me a little bit." There was a long silence.**

**"So…that's a yes?" Yugi rolled his eyes and turned back to the desk.**

**"I've been looking at the photographs I took while in the tombs in Egypt. I was hoping that maybe there was something in the hieroglyphs that could tell us how to beat the Sins. I can't see anything. The symbols on the walls are too small for me to read. I'd have to get a better look at them. Even with the flash on, the pictures were too dark." Atem grabbed a photo and looked at it.**

**"If I got a better look at the hieroglyphs, I could possibly translate them. But how are we going to get to Egypt?" The two looked at each other, thinking the same thing. "You're not serious." **

**"It's the only way. Unless you can teleport."**

**"Where are you going to get the money?"**

**"I can get a job. I have high school education and _some _college education." Atem shook his head when Yugi jumped up, practically shouting Eureka. "I know! We're practically twins, right?"**

**"I don't know where you're going with this, but I'm both taller and older than you and I don't like where you're going with this either. And this sounds like a terrible idea already." **

**"Indifferent. You're a few inches taller than me. Where I'm going with this is _you _take my place in college while I take a plane to Egypt to copy down the hieroglyphs."**

**Atem shook his head. "There are multiple things wrong with that. One: It's _your _college time, not mine, two: _I _should be the one to go to Egypt to copy them down because I'll know what to copy and three: I'm not going to college." **

**"Why not? It was my idea, I should get the best part."**

**"Yugi, I've seen your handwriting. You write like you're outside in a snowstorm. How can you copy hieroglyphs?" **

**"I can write Egyptian. It's the understanding I have trouble with." Atem shook his head and Yugi poked his chest. "Besides, you owe me."**

**"For what?"**

**"Making my first two days of college embarrassing _and _lying to me."**

**"I never lied to you." **

**Yugi paused and looked back at his friend. "Be that as it may, you still made me look stupid in front of the entire class the first two days." Atem didn't bother telling him that it had only been one day and that the next day, he had been trying to look at the back of Shonen's head. To save time, he nodded in agreement. **

**"Fine. But don't expect your teacher to believe I'm you. Even with our resemblances, our differences are noticeable, too. For instance, my voice is deeper than yours and I don't fall out of my chair every time I get scared."**

**"You fell out of a tree, doesn't that count?"**

**"That's because you literally tried to scare me to death. I already got a concussion for you once. Remember when Envy sucked half…the…life out of me." The green fog that Envy had sent into him came back to his mind. "That's it! Envy used his dark magic to make the slightest thing bring out your Envy. That's what that green fog was. I thought it was just something that he used to try and suck the life out of me. I forgot that the Sins have that kind of power."**

**"If they can weaken you, can't they just weaken you until you have no life left?"**

**"Not when they don't have their forms. As you know, they do have forms, but they need human forms to keep getting Sin. You were their first victim. And now that you were targeted by Envy, he'll keep using you to get more Envy. Even if they were strong enough, their sister wants to be the one to take my life. For what reason, I have no idea." Yugi looked back at the photos. **

**"Then we should hurry. No telling how soon the next attack will be." Atem didn't agree with the plan Yugi had conjured up, but arguing would only make it worse, so he didn't object verbally, but mentally, he was imagining the argument he would have after this whole thing ended. Yugi seemed to be thinking about an argument he would have after the Sins were defeated, too because he looked Atem square in the eye and scowled, "We're not done with this argument. After we've defeated them, I am so kicking your butt for trying to keep it from me!" Atem crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.**

**"Good luck reaching it, shorty."**

**Yugi growled and felt steam come from his ears. "You're only a few inches taller than me and you're supposed to be ten years older than me." **

**"Still taller." Yugi glared even though he could see Atem's cheeks turning red. His attention turned to a jar of money he had hidden in a desk. He pulled it out and looked at it with a defeated face. **

**"This isn't enough. Only $30. Let's see. It's about $100 if I pre-order a ticket. Maybe extra depending on if I need to take two planes. Then there's the supplies I'll need…That sums it up to about…$300!? I don't have enough time to get that kind of money! I'd have to rob someone to get that kind of money before the Sins attack." Atem looked at him with an accusing stare. "I never said I was _going_ to. Don't look at me like that." **

**"Well if you can't get a ticket to Egypt, you'll have to fly a plane on your own." Yugi growled and tried to think. He knew he couldn't buy a plane or even rent one with only $30. It was then that he knew he'd have to make an alliance with one of his enemies. **

**The two were at the house of Maximillion Pegasus. **

**"Are you sure about this?"**

**"I don't like this idea either, but I'm sure he'll understand if I tell him the fate of the world is at stake." Atem shook his head and looked at the gate. **

**"If you think this is the only way to get to Egypt." As they entered, Pegasus had clearly been waiting for them. He was waiting at a long table with a class of white wine. **

**"Hello, Yugi-boy." He said in his feminine voice. "Did you want to pay a visit to dear old Max?" **

**"We – I need to get $300 so I can go to Egypt to read ancient hieroglyphs so I can find a way to beat Egyptian evil that's come back and is using our Sins as a weapon!" **

**"And why should I help you?" **

**"Here's a thought: if you don't, the world is doomed." Pegasus sighed and took another sip of his wine. As he noticed Atem, he laughed lightly.**

**"Ah, I see something more has happened. Would you like a glass of chardonnay?" Atem felt a vein throb as the Toon dueler offered him a glass. He slammed a hand on the table. **

**"Look, if you don't help us, we will be facing enemies that even _I _can't beat. They will take over the world and destroy you, me-"**

**"Tell me, is that Seto-boy still around?"**

**"Uh, yes." **

**"Is he still taking care of Patoonia?"**

**"Who?"**

**"Ah, she's known by Shonen. Is she still being taken care of by him?" Both Yugis blinked in confusion. **

**"What do you mean being taken care of?" Yugi asked. **

**"I hired Kaiba-boy to be a caretaker for my dear Patoonia."**

**"Your dear Patoonia?" They both asked in unison. Pegasus let out a loud laugh and looked at the two boys, shaking his head.**

**"Kaiba-boy didn't tell you? A few months ago I decided that she should go to school like a normal girl. Since Kaiba-boy was the only one I could think of that I had contact with, I hired him to take care of her. I would have hired you, Yugi-boy, but you were somewhere across the world." **

**"Why would Kaiba agree to that?" Yugi asked.**

**"At first he rejected, but I'm guessing he agreed for the same reason you want to be friends with her. I come from a long line of very attractive people if I do say so myself."**

**"We don't have time for your pride. If you keep that up, you'll be in as much trouble as the next person. Yugi needs to go to Egypt to read ancient hieroglyphs to find a way to stop them. If we don't find a way, even _Shonen _will be in trouble." Atem snapped. That seemed to get to Pegasus. **

**"What? Very well then. Yugi-boy, we will go with my private helicopter." Pegasus stood up, fastening his jacket.**

**"We?" Yugi asked nervously**

**"Well of course. If my dear Patoonia is in danger, you don't think I'm going to stand around doing nothing, do you?"**

**"I didn't even know she was related to you. And please stop calling her Patoonia. It's creepy." Pegasus put on a fedora and led them to a hangar with a helicopter. "Do you know how to fly this thing?" **

**"Of course I do." Yugi looked over at Atem. **

**"Wanna trade places?" **

**The Pharaoh shook his head. "Shonen will be safer if I stay here. In case the necklace isn't enough protection." Atem answered. **

**"What necklace?" He quickly looked away, hearing the anger in his voice. "You got her something for her birthday, didn't you?"**

**"It's the only thing that will protect whoever holds it from the Sins. Do you want her to be corrupted by them? I had Téa give it to her so we wouldn't have to go. Stop arguing with me about her." Pegasus laughed. **

**"You two don't need to worry about fighting over for her affection. If she likes you, she will certainly let you know. Now onto Egypt." Pegasus got into the helicopter and buckled up. Yugi sighed and got in after Pegasus. Before they flew off, Yugi cast a glance down at Atem, mentally asking him once more to switch places with him. Atem shook his head and walked away. As the helicopter flew off, Atem rolled his eyes. He knew the necklace would only protect Shonen for a short amount of time before the Sins came up with a way to separate her from it. As for Yugi, he'd have to protect himself in Egypt. As long as no one else had any Sin in them or a reason to be targeted by the Sins, maybe they could find something out in time. As Atem walked out of Pegasus's house, he saw Shonen walking towards it. Perhaps he could try to avoid being spotted by Kai. He wasn't in the mood to answer questions about why he was there. Especially since his mind was trying to stay concentrated on other things.**

**Too late.**

**Kai was already barking at him happily. Shonen walked up to him, even though he could see a smile slightly forced on her face. "Hello, Yugi. What are you doing at Uncle Max's house?" **

**"I was just taking a walk around town. I didn't know you were related to Pegasus." Of course this was a blatant lie since Pegasus had said that not ten minutes ago. **

**"Yes, Uncle Max figured it was time for me to be normal for once, so he put me in college. Toto said that he was forced to be a caretaker for me and protect me from anyone trying to be crude to me because of my disability." **

**"I see. Well, I honestly would love to stay and talk, but-"**

**"You have to go, I know. I've heard that all this week." Atem felt a tinge of guilt in his stomach as he saw her face sadden. "If you don't want to be around me, that's all you have to say. There's no need to lie to me." Her voice went from sad to angry.**

**"It's not that. I was just…busy. Old relatives are visiting and-"**

**"I'm a blind person, not a moron. I understand that you feel awkward being around me, but that's no reason for you to make up excuses to not see me." **

**"It's not that, honestly." Atem sighed, leaving only one other choice. _You owe me one, Yugi. _"I just…really like you and I have trouble talking to you, so I try to avoid being around you because I know that I'll look like a fool. And we both know how my first two days went." Shonen ran her finger through her hair.**

**"Oh, I see. Well, why didn't you tell me that?" **

**"Uh, well…I just didn't want you to think I was a moron. It seems stupid, really." Shonen laughed and grabbed his hand. **

**"Trust me, the last thing on my mind about you is moron. You're a nice guy and I'd expect you to know that someone making a fool out of themselves a couple of times doesn't make me judge someone. I like to get to know people first."**

**"Well, I uh…"**

**"What are you doing at my uncle's house, by the way?" **

**"Oh, that…he called me over to inform you that he will be leaving for a few days." Kai barked and looked at the house, giving out a sort of whine. **

**"Oh, he's always out, doing some sort of thing."**

**"You mean you stay here up all by yourself a lot?" **

**She let out a small giggle, and shook her head as if she left out some sort of important bit of information. "No, Anna-May. She takes care of me when my uncle is not around. Which is practically all the time, so she pretty much lives here. Would you like to meet her?" Atem nodded before stupidly realizing that she couldn't see him, but she seemed to know his answer. She led him in the house and Kai immediately jumped on the couch, lying down. "Anna-May? Are you here?" There was a noise that came from the kitchen. A blonde woman with curly hair and freckles came out of the kitchen with a glass of wine.**

**"Oh, did Max leave? I just got out his favorite bottle of champagne. Oh, who's your cute friend?" He noticed that she had a strong accent in her voice; a hint of Brooklyn mixed with the voice of a pixie. Putting the bottle down, she walked up to him and started grooming his hair. "Aren't you handsome? Are you a friend of Shonen's?" **

**"Uh, yeah…" He answered quietly. **

**"This is my friend, Yugi." Shonen added. Anna-May smiled and held a lock of Atem's hair.**

**"Oh my, you should really get a haircut. Maybe you could let me cut it someday." **

**"Uh, no thanks. I like my hair the way it is." He backed up and sighed. No way was he letting her cut his hair. Not yet, at least. Maybe if he ever felt the need to have more manageable hair. In the meantime, he had other things to worry about. Like the Sins. Being around Shonen was too dangerous. He couldn't let her get hurt. "I apologize, Shonen, but I have to leave. I'll see you in class next week." Shonen's face looked a little hurt. **

**"So, you're still not coming to my birthday then…" Atem stopped in mid-walk and looked at her. **

**"I'll do everything in my power to make it, I promise. Do you believe me?" She nodded, smiling a bit. **

**"I hope you can. It won't be the same without you there." **

**_If she likes you, she will certainly let you know._**** Pegasus's words rang through Atem's head. Maybe she _did _like Yugi. Or maybe she liked who she thought was him.**

**Yugi looked outside the window of the helicopter. It was a few hours since the two had flown off. Pegasus hadn't said a word unless it was asking about what had been happening. Yugi didn't bother asking Pegasus his relation to Shonen. Pegasus was too focused on flying the helicopter to pay attention to anything else anyway. When they landed, Egypt was exactly as hot as Yugi had remembered. Thankfully, though, they had gotten there close to night, so it would be cooler soon. "Now, which pyramid were you planning on looking in, Yugi-boy?" Pegasus asked. He hadn't thought of that. Yugi took the pictures out of his satchel, flipping through them. **

**"I think there may be something in the pyramid in the middle of those two over there." Yugi pointed at a pyramid. **

**"Then there's no time to waste, Yugi-boy." Pegasus led the way into the pyramid, grabbing a torch. "Light this torch, Yugi-boy." Quickly, Yugi lit a match and ignited the torch. They both scanned the area; cobwebs and the spiders that made them seemed to rest in every corner or dark spot that they could find. The walls of the pyramid were chipped, making some of the hieroglyphs hard to decipher, but those weren't the ones he was after. One bit of hieroglyph caught his eye especially. He walked up to it, putting his hand on it. The hieroglyph was, like most, a poorly made representation of a human. Two humans, really. And a dog. **

**"Pegasus, take a look at this." Yugi looked around when no answer came from him. Pegasus was nowhere to be found. He assumed that Pegasus had merely gone to look for other hieroglyphs, so Yugi took out a small chisel and hammer. He started carefully taking out the slab of stone that depicted a girl extremely similar to Shonen with her dog and another figure that Yugi guessed was supposed to be Atem. In between them was a set of three circles connected to each other; two on the bottom and one on top. When he got the slab off, he carefully placed it in his satchel. **

**He was half-surprised when he saw a familiar figure standing before him when he turned around. Envy's smile sent chills down his spine. Even if it was a face similar to Yugi's, Envy had a face that practically had an aura of evil that Yugi didn't like. "You're a fool, you know." Envy said.**

**Even though he knew it was foolish to listen to him, Yugi stopped and turned to him. "What are you talking about?"**

**"You know of their past and you left them together? Are you stupid? Right now they could be laughing at you as they split a glass of wine, preparing their future together. Why did you think that he so easily agreed to stay behind? Where _she _is!" **

**"I trust him. He's my friend." Envy let out a loud laugh.**

**"Friend? He's a pharaoh, they're royalty. And royalty is usually deceitful, traitorous, and a family of liars. Not to mention that pharaohs are usually just a bunch of snobs that try to get as many women as they want! Especially since pharaohs have more than one wife; for all you know, he could have been planning this since day one!"**

**"NO! He wouldn't do that to me!" Envy sneered as he projected an image. Yugi knew it was fake, but it looked so real. The Pharaoh with his arms wrapped around Shonen. It looked so real, but he knew it was fake. The main fact was that Shonen's eyes weren't the milky grey that they usually were, giving the effect that Envy didn't know she was blind and then there was the fact that it was a still image; it looked more like a photo than something that was happening at that moment. He assumed that it was all he could do with the only bit of power he had from the Envy he had extracted. **

**Pegasus wandered into a room and his eyes brightened at the sight; a room filled with gold. He didn't notice Greed standing in the corner of the room as Pegasus stuffed gold into his satchel. Greed smirked as he started getting stronger, sucking greed from Pegasus. Yugi heard a scream come from Pegasus. "Pegasus!" Before he could run in his direction, Envy knocked him back. Envy held him to the ground with a large foot as he opened up a portal.**

**"Greed should be returning with his 'wins of war' soon. You, on the other hand are coming with me." Envy grabbed Yugi by the throat and his eyes lit up. Suddenly, Yugi felt energy being sucked out of him. Was this how Atem had felt when he saved him from the Sins? Before Envy could manage to suck the last bit of life from Yugi, a gunshot was heard as a bullet nearly missed Envy. He looked angrily as he saw a short, red-headed girl with a rifle stared angrily. He could tell that she was scared, though she was doing her best to hide it. "Hmph." Yugi threw the satchel to her and swallowed hard as he tried to keep himself from being pulled into the portal.**

**"Go to Battle City!…Look for Atem…Tell him that Yugi's in trouble." He tried to kick off Envy, but Envy had just as much trouble trying to drag him into the portal. "Give him the tablet in the satchel and that the Sins have Pegasus, too. Take the helicopter! AHH!" With one good yank, Yugi was thrown into the portal by his ankle and as Envy entered the portal, it closed with a sound that resembled the crack of a whip. The girl stared at the room, wondering if what she had seen was just a mirage. She picked up the satchel and looked at the tablet. When she walked out, she saw that it was already dark and knew that it was very dangerous to fly at night, so she walked over to her jeep and pulled out a tent. **

**She walked over to where the tablet was taken out of the wall. As she continued looking at the wall, she read more of the hieroglyphs. It read about an ancient pharaoh named Atem (was that the name the boy had mentioned earlier? It had to be a coincidence, right?) who fell in love with a gypsy. For some reason, though, the dog of the gypsy had a liking to him. The gypsy wore golden jewelry with red jewels on them that protected her from evil, her left cheek had a golden star just under her eye and her wrist had a grey crescent moon on it. Her name was Shitsumei and the pharaoh fell in love with her instantly. They were to be married, but the Sins attacked before that could happen. Envy had almost killed the pharaoh and would have finished him off had Shitsumei not protected him with her necklace as she put it in the pharaoh's hands. Angered, Envy turned his aggression toward her. He broke her gold arm brace that would have stopped the attack and crushed her under a pile of rocks. Angered and saddened by this, the pharaoh used the necklace in his possession to send Envy and the rest of his siblings back into their own realm without the forms they had chosen – the necklace had weakened them back into their pre-form states – and just as he entered the realm, Pride muttered that they would return with Wrath. **

**Interested, the girl started taking the hieroglyphs she had read off the wall and put them in her own satchel. She turned her attention to the other hieroglyphs. She started copying down anything that she found interesting and zipped up her tent as she fell asleep.**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Changes made to second chapter. Somewhere in the middle.**

**Days had passed since Yugi and Pegasus had gone missing. The girl didn't get to Battle City for quite some time since she had taken breaks during the night. On one particular stop, she had run into a creepy old lady asking if she wanted to sell the hieroglyphs to her for some money (she was a museum owner and was specifically interested in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. The girl kindly declined even though the woman had been persistent. Eventually, she got back in the helicopter and flew toward Battle City, getting closer each minute. It was when she saw the top of the Kaiba Corp. building that she realized she had no idea where to look for whoever that boy was telling her to search for. She didn't even know where to land the helicopter. After minutes of mentally arguing with herself, she decided to land it by the Kaiba Corp. building. **

**When she got out, she was met with a very angry-looking boy no more than a couple of years older than she was. When he realized who she was, his look turned from hatred to annoyance. "Who are you and why do you have Pegasus's helicopter?" **

**"My name is Akage Rin. I didn't know where to land this. Some kid with spiky hair told me to come here to find his friend called Atem."**

**"He told you to come to Kaiba Corp.?"**

**"No, Battle City. Do you know where he may be?" Kaiba scowled at her and turned away. **

**"Get off my property or I'll call the cops."**

**"Do you know a kid named Yugi?" Kaiba stopped and turned back to her. **

**"What about him?" Should she tell him? Yugi didn't mention anything about a creepy teenager. "He's my classmate. What did he get himself into this time?"**

**"I know I'll sound crazy, but he was sucked into a portal and-"**

**"I've heard enough." At first, she thought he was going to call security, but he then grabbed her arm and led her away. Mokuba came in the room and looked at him.**

**"What's going on, Seto?" He asked. His long black hair had been cut short even though it was still poofy. Kaiba shoved Akage toward his little brother. **

**"Take her to Yugi's friends. She has an urgent message for them. I don't care how you get her there, just get her out of my sight. If I hear one more story about magic, I'm going to rip my own hair out." Mokuba blinked, seeing that the girl was covered in dirt and cobwebs. Instead of arguing, he nodded and led her away. **

**A shop owner was yelling at a small child as he snatched a fruit from the child's hands.**

**"You have to pay for that!" He had shouted, putting the fruit back on the stand. The child had looking longingly at the fruit, but walked away. Atem had walked up to the fruit stand and took a fruit, putting a coin where the fruit had once been. The child, sitting in a shaded corner and wiping a tear from his eye, did not notice that Atem walked up to him. The tiny child jumped when his hand rested on his shoulder. The little boy's face brightened up when he saw Atem holding the fruit out for him to take. After the boy gobbled down the fruit, he hugged Atem gratefully. Oyaji had put his hand on his son's shoulder. He gave him a look that told him 'you will make a perfect pharaoh', though he said nothing. His father was usually the quiet type. Later that night, Atem had been awoken with a jolt. Slowly, he'd walked through the grand halls of the pyramid. Where had that sound come from? When he'd turned a corner, he saw a shapely, attractive woman with fiery red hair wrapped in a matching cloak. **

**Her hand was raised with a glowing white ball in it and to his horror, his father was on the ground, bruised to the bone, quivering on his knees. "That's it, pharaoh! Kneel before your superior!" She laughed, kicking him in the face. **

**"You're not superior to me; you're a monster!" His father had shouted. The woman snarled and picked him up by his hair. Her eyes seemed to glow red as well. He was thrown face-first to the ground. Oyaji's face showed weakness as the woman stepped on his back. Just as Oyaji spotted Atem hiding behind a wall, the woman did, too. "Atem, run!" His father shouted, his face looking more worried than weakened.**

**"No, stay, Atem. Let's talk. Here's a fun fact about your father," Atem felt his body tense up as she walked closer to him, the ball of light still in her hand, "Did you know that your father was a weak, spineless worm?" Without turning, she shot the ball of light at Oyaji, sending him flying across the room.**

**"Leave him alone!" Atem had shouted, tears starting to form in his eyes as he spotted his father's nearly unconscious body across the room. The woman laughed, picking Atem up and sneering in his face.**

**"And pick on someone my own size? What are you going to do? Spitball me to death?" Oyaji stood up, holding his arm. **

**"Leave my son alone, witch." He growled. Even though there wasn't a spot on him that wasn't bruised or damaged, Oyaji stood, determined to win. The woman's teeth were shown as an evil grin spread across her face and she tossed Atem into a wall, her thumb nail scratching his neck in the process. Oyaji grabbed a large rock, ready to bash her head in. Instead, the woman who seemed to have eyes on the back of her head smacked the rock out of his hand. Atem stood, ready to attack the woman, but his father shouted angrily, "Get out of here!" Feeling victorious, the woman raised her arm in the air and started up another light ball. She threw it at the ceiling and everything started to crumble. As Atem went to grab his father who was still weak, the woman picked up the small boy like a piece of luggage and carried him out, leaving his father helpless. The room crumbled on top of Oyaji. **

**"Father! No!"**

**Atem shouted angrily and kicked the woman in her stomach. When she dropped him, he ran to the rubble, hoping that his father had survived as he moved the rubble out of his way. He found his father's body, though his head had been the only thing uncovered by the rubble. Once he saw that the body of his father wasn't breathing, he felt tears stream down his eyes. Enraged, he ran at the woman, slamming a brick into her jaw. She snarled and grabbed his wrist and shoved him to the ground, rubbing her jaw. A large scar was now on her face. **

**"You little brat!" She growled, but didn't make a move; other villagers had gathered 'round to see what was happening. He grabbed the brooch from her cloak and stomped on it, smashing it to pieces. With a loud shriek, the woman fell to her knees, shouting out in pain. Her skin started smoking and hissing. Before she could completely disappear, she snapped her fingers and, like the crack of a whip, she vanished. Due to his father's death, he had been made pharaoh later that same night. He sat glumly as the townspeople celebrated their new pharaoh. **

**Atem woke with a jerk. "Where are we?" He asked, hoping no one noticed that he was close to hyperventilating. Hours had passed; the moon was high in the sky and it started pouring rain. The only thing keeping them dry was the fabric top to the jeep. **

**"We're somewhere near the Dagger's Tip." Atem looked to the sky, staring at the stars, rubbing the scar on the back of his neck. Akage had run to him and explained everything. The moment he had heard her say Envy, he took no time running off to the helicopter, dragging her with him to Egypt. "So, how will we know when we get to where we need to be to save your friend?" **

**"Once we get to the right pyramid, I'm sure the Sins will take care of the rest." **

**"How do we know which pyramid it is?"**

**"You took the tablets from it, right?" **

**"Right." The Pharaoh looked in the backseat, the tablet was lying there, with the sun's reflection shining off the surface. Hopefully, he could get to Envy before Envy got what he needed from Yugi. Who knows what would happen after he was done with him? Atem shuddered at the thought and took his mind off of it, thinking of how he'd get to the Sins' Realm.**

**Kaiba was walking around his house, angry. Whoever that girl was, he was glad she was gone. But did she honestly believe something as stupid as magic? If Yugi _was _in trouble, at least he was out of his hair. But he had more important things to worry about than magic. If Yugi disappeared, then Kaiba could reclaim his rightful place as King of Games.**

**When he turned around, he saw a cloaked figure smirking at him. "Hello, Seto." His eerie voice said.**

**"Who are you and how did you get in this house?" He asked angrily. **

**"Not important. Do you know what Yugi and his friends are doing right now?" **

**"I don't know and I don't care."**

**"Oh, but you should. They're all laughing at you now. First you were unable to beat a rookie at some card game and now you can't even get someone to think rationally, who was clearly having a mirage. Or was she?"**

**"What are you talking about? If you're one of those people who believe in magic, you're just as insane as Yugi and the rest of his friends." **

**"Fool, the reason you never beat Yugi in duels is because you don't believe anything unless you can't see it with your own eyes. You're a pathetic loser because you only see with your eyes instead of seeing with the rest of your senses." Kaiba turned toward him, infuriated. He grabbed the man by his cloak angrily.**

**"Listen here, you little freak, I'm not a pathetic loser. I'm ten times better than any of those dweebs that you claim to know. If you knew anything about them, you'd know that I'm better than them beyond comparison. And another thing, you Jawa, I don't believe in magic because it's not real. It's a bunch of smoke and mirrors and if you think magic is real, I dare you to prove to me that it is. If magic is real, then I'm as bone-headed as Wheeler!" The cloaked figure's eyes lit up. Mokuba in his room heard a scream come from downstairs. **

**"Seto? Is that you?" As Mokuba slowly walked down the stairs, he saw no one there. His brother wasn't one for playing jokes on him. Almost immediately, he picked up the phone. "Hello? Mr. Moto? Is Yugi there? He's not? He's been missing for a few days? Seto just went missing, too. Right, I'll bring over the others, too." Mokuba gathered Téa, Joey, and Tristan and they all met up at Yugi's grandfather's house. "I think there's something bad going on. Not Pegasus bad, but real bad." **

**The three college students looked at each other, not sure if they should tell Mokuba about the Sins. "Look, Mokuba, there's an ancient evil called the Sins that came back and we think that they may have Yugi." Téa explained. **

**"You don't think they have Seto, do you?"**

**"Probably." Joey answered. Téa glared. "What? Was I supposed to sugar-coat it?"**

**"They're not gonna hurt him, right?"**

**"That's a given. O' course they are. If they don't suck the life out of him first, that is." **

**"We have to go find him! Where are they?"**

**"We're not sure." Téa answered before Joey could say anything stupid again. "But don't worry. Kaiba will be all right." She sighed with a worried look on her face. "I hope." She added under her breath. Solomon stepped in. **

**"Trust me. Yugi may only be a boy, but where ever he is, his friends are always safe." He assured with utter confidence. Joey leaned over and whispered to Solomon, "Kaiba ain't a friend o' Yug, ol' man." **

**"We should all stick together to make sure that no one else gets kid-napped by the Sins." Téa suggested. The group nodded in agreement. Tristan stretched, yawning loudly. **

**"Man, I'm beat. I'm hittin' the hay." He said, plopping down on the couch, snoring in seconds. **

**"Tristan's right. It's almost midnight. We should all get to sleep." Joey rushed upstairs. **

**"I get dibs on Yugi's room!" He shut the door to Yugi's room and locked it shut. Téa laughed a little and looked at Solomon.**

**"What about Mokuba and me?" **

**"You two can share my room. I'll sleep on the recliner." He got on the recliner chair, wrapping himself in a tiny blanket. Téa led Mokuba to Solomon's room. **

**"You sleep on the bed. I'll make up a bed on the floor." **

**"I'm scared." Mokuba admitted. Téa sighed and sat in the bed with him. **

**"I won't let anything happen to you, I promise. If a Sin comes for you, I'll gladly jump in your place and let it take me." Mokuba smiled weakly as he rested his head on the soft pillow. Téa put the blanket over him and kissed his forehead. "Good night."**

**Sleepily, he mumbled something that Téa guessed was a 'good night' back and she sat down on the floor, watching him. **

**_I hope Kaiba and Yugi are okay. _**

**Kaiba looked around as he tried to figure out where he was. "What the? What kind of trick is this?" He asked angrily.**

**"This is no trick, Seto. Or would you like me to call you Kaiba like the rest of your friends do?" Angrily, he craned his neck to see who said that, but his anger turned into a mix of confusion and fear as he saw an exact copy of him standing behind him. "What's the matter? You're not happy that there are two of you? Maybe you'll have a chance of beating Yugi this time." Pride smirked as he walked toward him. "This is a lot to take in, you should sit down." Pride pushed his arm out, knocking Kaiba down on his rear end. **

**"What's the deal? Who are you?"**

**"I'm you. Well, actually I'm an exact copy of you and to be more precise, my name is Pride, and you my boy are filled head-to-toe with it." Kaiba growled as he stood up. "Does this look like smoke and mirrors to you?**

**"Kaiba!" Yugi shouted, running up to him. "I can't believe they got you, too." **

**"Yugi? What's going on here?" Kaiba asked.**

**"It's sort of hard to explain at the moment. Where's Shonen?" **

**"At her house, you nimrod. I don't keep a tab on her 24/7." Panic spread across Yugi's face.**

**"Well, at least she's safe with the Pharaoh around."**

**"She's never been in danger. You're jumping at shadows." Yugi looked angrily at Pride. **

**"I guess you couldn't stay away for a few more days, could you? When I get out of here, you are so dead!"**

**"And what are you going to do, small-fry?" Pride asked. Distracted, Yugi noticed that the W on the coffin was getting brighter. "Soon we will have enough energy to revive her and when she has risen, she'll first use the energy we gathered for her and the Wrath of someone else to kill the Pharaoh and then rule the rest of the world. I wonder if Shitsumei will be as easy to kill in this time as she was 5,000 years ago." Yugi growled and punched the Kaiba copy in the face. **

**"You stay away from her! If you touch her, I'll make sure you swallow your Pride!" Pride laughed and looked at the coffin. **

**"Do not worry, sister. Soon you will be free. And then the Pharaoh's life will be yours for the taking." Pride turned on his heel and walked over to his siblings. "Any luck finding someone with Wrath?" **

**"Unfortunately not. Everyone on this planet seems to be happy and peaceful." Envy answered with a disgusted tone in his voice. Good, that meant that if Wrath was ever reawakened, she'd have no power, right? Of course Envy read Yugi's mind and laughed.**

**"Did you ever wonder why she was locked away? Even without someone's Sin in her, she is powerful. Think about it. Her power is enough to beat your stupid pharaoh; that's why he's afraid of her. And they go way back. She's got a little present for him." The rest of the Sins were surrounding the orb that had spotted Kaiba and they were no doubt looking for someone else to get Sin from. **

**"He's kind of cute." Yugi heard Gluttony say. **

**"We're not here to look for boyfriends." Sloth snapped. **

**"You got what you want from me, now let me go." Kaiba growled. Pride shook his head.**

**"You're a great source of power. Why would I want you to leave?" Pride sniggered as he shot a beam at Kaiba's chest. He cried out in pain as he was lifted into the air. **

**"Let him go!" Yugi shouted. Kaiba dropped to the ground and gripped his chest, trying to catch his breath. **

**"That should keep you quiet for a bit." As Gluttony and Sloth disappeared, Yugi caught sight of who was targeted next. **

**The sun was high in the sky as Atem got to the pyramid. He had told Akage to stay in the jeep just in case, though she didn't know what he meant. The Sins had to be here somewhere. He looked around, hoping that there would be some sort of clue, but nothing was there. It was too quiet to be Sin-free. "I know you guys are here. Show yourself!" The aura of the Sins came over him again, letting him know that they were giving up on trying to make it seem harmless. Envy rolled his eyes as he appeared in front of him. **

**"You're no fun, Pharaoh. Why did you drop by here? Come to surrender?" He asked. Atem angrily pointed at him. **

**"You know exactly why I'm here. I came to get my friends back!" **

**"Oh, have you? I'd almost forgotten about them. You took so long to get here, I'd thought you did too." Atem growled, but didn't make a step toward him. "How about a little game? I hear you're a dueler."**

**"And? I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't have a deck _or _a duel disk." Envy chuckled and cards appeared in his hand. **

**"You are so primitive, pharaoh. You forget about magic." The Pharaoh held out his hand as five cards appeared in his hand. **

**"Alright, what are the stakes? You should know what I want if I win." **

**"Oh, it's simple. If you win, you get your friends back, but if _I _win, your soul will be ours to hold where _you_ can't do anything to stop us to awaken Wrath and your life will be hers for the taking." **

**"Very well. And I assume this is no typical duel." Envy didn't answer and stepped back, smirking. That seemed to answer his question. "Am I going to be able to draw any other cards or are you going to hand me a card every time I need one?"**

**"Oh, five cards is all you need. Trust me." Atem didn't like the sound of his voice, but he had no choice but to duel. He looked at the five cards in his hand; Dark Magician, Monster Reborn, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, Mirror Force, and Kuriboh. It was clear by the look on Envy's face that he thought he was going to win. "To make this more interesting, let's have a little audience." Suddenly three people appeared in the air, tied together by what seemed to be invisible ropes. Yugi, Kaiba, and Pegasus. "Now it's complete. Shall we start?" **

**"Pharaoh!" Yugi shouted. As he tried to squirm free, Envy balled his hand into a fist, tightening the grip on him. "AH!"**

**"Enough! Are we going to duel or torture your victims?" Atem asked.**

**"I quite like the second one better." **

**"Let's start this. I'll start. I play one card face down and summon Obnoxious Celtic Guardian in Attack Mode and end my turn."**

**Even though the turn had ended, the trouble, he knew, had just begun.**

**Shonen sat on her couch, sipping at her tea. Anna-May sighed and sat by her. "I'm sure your Uncle Max is just fine. He always leaves for days at a time."**

**"But something doesn't seem right. I have this bad feeling in my stomach." She stood up and put her drink down. "I'm going to go find him." **

**"Shonen, you're-"**

**"I don't care. If my uncle is in danger, I will not stand around." Anna-May groaned and rested her hand on Shonen's face. **

**"I'm sure your Uncle Max will be fine. He'll be back in a few days. And if he doesn't come back, we'll search for him together." Shaking her head, Shonen grabbed Kai's leash. "Where are you going?"**

**"To Yugi's house. I need _some _normality in my life." Shonen shut the door and Anna-May took a large sip of her coffee. **

**"Oh, Max, she's certainly your niece." **

**Shonen knocked on the door and waited for an answer. Solomon answered, rubbing his eyes. "Eh, hello, may I help you?"**

**"Is Yugi here?"**

**"Eh, no, not presently. Can I take a message?"**

**"Oh, no." Kai barked and ran in, smiling up at the group of kids. **

**"Oh, hey Shonen. What brings you here?" Téa asked, petting Kai.**

**"I was just looking for Yugi. Uncle Max has been gone a few days and I feel a little bit nervous. Usually, he's gone for a bit, but I just feel like something's not right." **

**"Well, I hate to break it to ya, lady, but Yugi's been gone just as-" Téa covered Joey's mouth before he could finish.**


End file.
